Shahrnush Parsipur

I attended a lecture by Ladan Boroumand in Berkeley this afternoon. I will write about the lecture later. I saw my friend, Shahrnush Parsipur , who is a well-known Iranian author, there. She looked good and peaceful, as usual. We chatted some about Azar Nafisi's recent tour of the Bay Area. She told me about her new E-book, Men From Various Civilizations. As I went to check it out online tonight, I thought I would tell you about it, too. You can go to Shahrnush's website, read excerpts from her book and order it ($3). It's not a huge book, and you can download it onto your computer. The book has been translated into English. I saw many other friends there, too, which made me really happy on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Worrisome Sunday

I went to listen t Reese Erlich's lecture in Berkeley this afternoon. He is a journalist with San Francisco Chronicle, and his book, The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East, was just published. The topic of his lecture was: "Will the US attack Iran?" His answer to that question was pretty unsettling. Erlich believes that all plans are set into motion, and that it is no longer a question of whether there will be an attack, but when. He said that excuses for a potential attack are rapidly shifting from Iran's nuclear activities to its interference in Iraq, trying to find acceptance in the US. I was so scared listening to him. He is very sympathetic to Iranian people, and has visited Iran several times. I asked him what we could do to help avoid a war, and his suggestion was for Iranians in the US to get organized and to start developing a unified voice against a potential attack. That is no easy feat, and certainly it can't be done quickly enough. There was some suggestion that Iranians in the Bay Area form a contingent and participate in the protests against Iraq war which is scheduled for October 27th in San Francisco, protesting plans for an attack on Iran. Today I also read this article by Seymour Hersh in the upcoming issue of the New Yorker. It's a long piece, but I recommend it, if you have the stomach for bad news. I know many of my friends believe there won't be a war, but even if there is a small probability, the thought is too hard to bear. I wrote something on the subject which will be published tomorrow.

Reflections

Torkman girl at a wedding in Bandar Torkman, Photo by Hamed Khorshidi, Fars

I love reading. When I read I feel so happy and peaceful all the time. This weekend I realized I hadn't been able to read for such a long time. I spend very long days working and writing and what not, and by the time I haul myself to bed, I am so tired I pass out. I miss my poor neglected books. So, I have started to read something beautiful, something I have had for a long time, but have always put off reading, because it comes in seven volumes and to take it on would require a long-term commitment. It's Nader Ebrahimi's Atash Bedoone Dood. When I was in high school, a television series was aired based on this novel, which takes place in Torkman Sahra. I loved those names and those characters and that story, looking forward to watching it every week. Beautiful memories in mind and an excellent novel on hand, I get to it. If it's report worthy, I will let you know. I have a feeling it will be.

Take a look at the entire photo set here. I think it would make you happy!

Jimmy Carter

Former President, and Noble Peace Prize Laureate Jimmy Carter came to Berkeley this afternoon. He was promoting his new book: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. In a packed Zellerbach Auditorium, he talked to an audience of mostly students (only 150 seats were made available to faculty and staff). He received a Berkeley Medal of Honor, the highest honor the University extends to dignitaries (Berkeley does not issue honorary degrees).

For me, there were three points of appeal to Carter’s presence at the University: I believe Jimmy Carter to have done very well as a human rights activist (so much better than he did as a US President, I believe). Additionally, he is a man very much hated by a group of Iranians who hold him directly responsible for the regime change of 1979 in Iran. I don’t actually agree with the second point, but it intrigued me enough to want to hear this man talk. The last point is that I believe whether he was good or bad, effective or useless, a servant of human rights or a traitor to them, history will have until eternity to judge Jimmy Carter and other leaders to measure and evaluate them; however, in my limited lifetime, whenever I have a chance to go see major figures of our contemporary history, I never pass it up.

Jimmy Carter talked about his book, and the plight of Palestinians. The overall premise of his book is that while he criticizes suicide bombers and those who "consider the killing of Israelis as victories,” he says "some Israelis believe they have the right to confiscate and colonize Palestinian land and try to justify the sustained subjugation and persecution of increasingly hopeless and aggravated Palestinians." He said Israel will never find peace unless it withdraws from its neighbor’s lands and stops persecuting Palestenians.

He then had a talk with Orville Schell, Dean of Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Schell asked Carter several questions, including what he thought about US taking military action against Iran, and he replied it would be a catastrophe, worse than Iraq.

Another interesting day in Berkeley, wouldn't you say?

My Books

I have unpacked most of my books and music. Something about their sitting in those dark tight boxes was bothering me. I set them free, dusted them, and put them on the shelves with love, looking at every one of them, looking inside for reminisces of where, when, and how they came to be mine, reflecting on hand-written notes of my friends and family, and in some cases, the author him/herself. I love my books. I once had a large library which I had put together for 20 years. It was entirely lost (to me) in 1996 under unmentionable circumstances. I have re-built this small library now since 1997. When I was leaving Tehran, I brought them all with me, because I couldn’t imagine living without them. As I put all the poetry books together, I took time to read poems of Moshiri, Shafiee Kadkani, and of course, making a wish, my Hafez. I was just standing there with the dusting rag on my shoulder and a silly grin on my face, looking at my books and thinking how very rich I feel because I have books! The most important assets in life, I am continually reminded, are the ones that are free or not very expensive. My books helped last night to begin turning my house into my home. I am lucky, indeed.

These books are actually my books on my table at work. I couldn't find the camera to take a picture of the shelves at home last night! The Hafez book is calligraphed by Ostad Mehdi Fallah, who not only is a Farsi calligraphy artist, but also a gifted musician, and an exceptional individual.